ML-WR Boys Open Playoffs With A Win

Carley Cadwell- For NSO

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Mar 11

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

MOOSE LAKE – The Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels opened the Section 7AA playoffs with a win at home Thursday night over Pine City. The Rebels pulled off a 59-48 victory to advance them to the quarterfinals.

The Rebels opened the first half by trading baskets with the Dragons. The game was tied four times in the early going.
While leading 15-12, the Rebels started firing from the outside, hitting eight three-pointers to build an eleven point lead at the break. Lucas Probst connected on three of those three-pointers, while Caleb Koecher and Austin Jacobson added two long range bombs as well.

“It was a great win tonight,” head coach Neil Dickinson told Northland Sports Online. “The kids came out ready to play tonight. This was a great opening round test against a very good team tonight, and now we can focus on Saturday.” The Rebels face Rush City, who advanced to the quarterfinals with a 66-44 win over Aitkin Thursday night.

Pine City came out in the second half and fought their way back into the game with some good inside play from Devin Braatz, who scored 8 points in the first few minutes of the second half. With the Rebels leading by four, Ryan Adamczak hit two jump shots to lengthen the lead up to eight points. From that point on, ball control and great passing led to easy baskets, helping the Rebels come away with the win in Moose Lake.

The Rebels were led in scoring by Trevor Nummela with 13, Austin Jacobson added 12, Lucas Probst finished with 11, Ryan Adamczak and Caleb Koecher each chipped in with 9 and Taylor Mattison ended with 5 points. The Rebels improve to 20-7 on the season and play at 6:00 pm on Saturday night at UMD.

Devin Braatz led the Dragons with 18 points on the night, Derek Lutz ended with 11 for Pine City, and Mike Schmidt added 7 points in the loss. Pine City closes out the season with a 13-14 record overall.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com